State Sen. David Carlucci, right, with heart transplant recipients Lauren Shields of Stony Point, left, and Roxanne Watson of Spring Valley on Oct. 4, celebrating the governor's signing of 'Lauren's Law,' which changes driver's license renewal forms to assist in getting more New Yorkers to sign up as organ donors. / Peter Carr/The Journal News

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| A Journal News editorial

Candidate interview

To watch selected clips of the Editorial Board interview with candidates for the 38th Senate District, and all of this season’s candidate interviews, go to livestream.com/editorialspotlight/folder and select the video from the menu.

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In one of the most misguided divisions to come from this year’s redistricting, state Senate District 38, which once wholly encompassed Rockland, lost the northernmost towns of Stony Point and Haverstraw, and picked up Ossining, divided by a river from the rest of the district. Bad map-making notwithstanding, residents of the newly formed 38th, on both sides of the Hudson, would be served well by re-electing the current state senator.

Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, is challenged by former Ossining trustee Janis Castaldi, a Republican. The district includes the towns of Ramapo, Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland, and Ossining in Westchester.

Carlucci has been an independence voice since the start of his Albany tenure. He’s joined the Independent Democratic Conference, which doesn’t hitch its wagon completely to either party. He ruffled Rockland politicians when he declined to carry a bill that would allow the county to raise the sales tax as a way to pay off a deficit-reduction bond. The measure had slim chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate and even less chance of being signed by a tax-taming governor.

With regard to the Ossining portion of the district, Carlucci teamed up with Assemblywoman Sandy Galef on a variety of efforts, including commonsense boating safety legislation. Carlucci’s independent streak has earned him a coveted and scarce endorsement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The governor cited Carlucci’s support for back-to-back on-time state budgets, the property-tax cap, replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge and same-sex marriage.

The marriage equality issue caused much confusion in this race: Castaldi had the Conservative Party’s backing until they realized she was married — to a woman. Castaldi properly saw her personal life as a “non-issue” but the Conservative Party dropped her. Carlucci is also on the Independence and Working Families lines.

“Senator Carlucci has been a real partner in Albany and a leader in the lower Hudson Valley,” Cuomo said in his Oct. 15 endorsement. Residents in both the Rockland and Westchester portion can continue having such leadership by returining Carlucci to Albany on Nov. 6.